The present invention relates to a slow cooker and more particular pertains to an improved slow cooker with a lid and a container which could be engaged with each other to prevent spillage of liquid content.
Slow cookers available for sale in the marketplace nowadays are provided with lids placed on the upper rims of the containers. There is no reliable mechanism for securing the lid and the container together. In general, after the cooking is done, the user will move the slow cooker or the container filled with food. As there is no reliable securing mechanism, the lid may easily slide off during the moving process. Further, vibration in the moving process may lead to a possible spill-out of liquid content inside the container, therefore creating a potential for the user to be burnt.
Patent No. CN200920198406 discloses a slow cooker with a touch-control structure. The container is covered with a lid atop. The lower side of the upper rim of the container is disposed with a symmetrically opposed pair of handle lower covers. The handle lower covers each has a spring hole at an interior middle position. The spring holes each receives a spring and a steel bead. The handle lower covers are each disposed with a handle upper cover atop. A locking member is disposed between the handle lower cover and the handle upper cover. The base of the locking member slidingly presses against the steel bead, and the steel bead serves to limit the sliding position of the locking member. The rim of the lid is disposed with a sealing ring therebeneath. The sealing ring which is made of silicone and forms a closed ring structure controls the sealing engagement between the lid and the container. The aforementioned design provides an additional locking member between the container and the lid to seal the container, but it has many structural parts and is complicated to assemble, high in costs and low in efficiency. Moreover, the friction area of the locking member is large, leading to strong resistance and unsmooth operation. Further, as the aforementioned design makes use of the spring to press the steel bead upwards for positioning, the locking strength is therefore reduced as the elasticity of the spring weakens after prolonged use, therefore resulting in easy loosening of the locking member.
Patent No. CN200710005602 discloses a slow cooker which comprises a housing, a container and a lid. The lid has an outer rim which is circled by a gasket and covers the opening of the container. The side wall of the housing is disposed with at least one over-the-center clip which may be selectively engaged with the lid to retain the lid in sealing engagement with the container, thereby preventing leakage of the food stuffs from within the container. The aforementioned clip has a hook and a lever. The hook engages with the lid to retain the lid in sealing engagement with the container. A catch must be provided on the lid for engaging with the hook, which results in increase in raw material demand as well as costs. Particularly, slow cookers available for sale in the marketplace nowadays are provided with glass lids, and it involves a complicated manufacturing process to mount a catch onto a glass lid. As the number manufacturing steps are increased, the efficiency is lowered.